Rejected
by remembertheginger
Summary: One stormy night, Carter grabs an opportunity... and slips. Jarter oneshot.  P.S. The summary was metaphorical!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! This one runs kinda high on the angst meter, at least at the end… oh well. I don't own anything. Just a simple Jarter one-shot.**

He casually scoots closer to her, something completely unlike him. However, he's feeling dangerous.

Maybe she is too.

As he slides closer to her, closing the gap created by the bench between them, his confidence blossoms. Possibilities pop into his head; one, the one he's trying for, looks particularly appetizing.

They're not in a very public place. Just in a small park, where a few smiling couples might walk by. Though now, there aren't any couples there but them.

The rain pounds steadily, the streetlights glow faintly, illuminating the night. He's not aware of anything but her.

"Carter," she gasps quietly. She stares at him intently, drinking in the way the light plays on his face and dances in his eyes. She smiles, oblivious to everything but him.

"Jaz," he smiles back. He breathes in her scent: a strange but intoxicating mixture of an exotic berry and mint. Acai berry, he realizes.

In a flash, they are together: lips meet, hands hug the other closer, desperate to escape the never-ending world around them. He brushes a few wet strands of hair from her face, breaking the kiss.

She stares at him in horror, and his heart breaks for the second time. "I… I shouldn't have done that." She whispers, paralyzed. He tries to hug her, but she pushes him away. She runs back to the Brooklyn House, into the rainy night, hugging herself the whole way.

Meanwhile, he stares blankly at nothing, replaying that heart-wrenching moment in his mind.

"What did I do wrong?" he mutters. He realizes then: that kiss never should have happened. His whole relationship was a lie, fabricated to help him cope.

Because he's been rejected by his one true love: Zia.


	2. 2: Alone

**A/N: I decided to write this after a review I received. This is the back story of how Jarter came to be! … At least, in my opinion… I don't own KC or Siul a Ruin. And there MIGHT be another chapter coming up, one of Zia's dreams…**

Carter glanced around, confused. Zia had asked him to meet her at the fountain, and he had agreed without question. However, Zia wasn't here yet. Was something wrong?

Zia ran up, just a little late. "Carter," she panted.

He smiled happily. Seeing Zia always cheered him up. "Yes, Zia?"

When she looked at him, there was fear in her eyes; Carter couldn't understand why. "Carter, there's something I have to tell you."

Carter furrowed his eyebrows. "Go ahead…" he said apprehensively.

"I… I can't…" Zia paused, unable to find the right words. "I can't love you anymore." She finished.

Carter could almost feel his heart shatter. "Zia, I…" he was at a loss for words, consumed by the immense despair he was feeling.

She looked away guiltily. "Carter, you don't understand."

"Then tell me so that I do understand," he begged.

Zia looked at him again. Fear, sadness, and anguish all danced around her eyes. She didn't want this anymore than he did. "I can't."

Carter looked down, his heart pierced with despair. At the touch of Zia's hand to his, he looked up.

"You can't _tell_ me?" He asked, forming a small plan. "Can you write it down?"

Zia nodded, her eyes widening. She rushed inside. Five minutes later, she brought out a piece of paper that she had scribbled her answer on.

_I've been having a recurring dream._

Carter looked at Zia, troubled. Zia's recurring dreams were never good.

_Apophis is always in it. Sometimes I'm the first Nome, sometimes I'm with Iskandar. Every time, Apophis says I could go back to that, if only I would join him. Each time I say no, he shows me a new, terrible vision of what will happen; I've seen you get devoured by him. I've seen Felix, ripped apart by a few of the Snake's demons. I've seen Sadie get burned alive. Apophis told me that I can make things easier on everyone I love by separating myself from them._

Carter shivered. He couldn't imagine bearing that weight alone. And how long had Zia been doing it? Days? Weeks? Months?

"Do you see now why I can't love you?" Zia demanded.

Carter stared at her. "Zia, there are other ways to cope."

Zia shook her head no. "Carter, I've made my decision and you'll just have to accept that."

Carter sighed, his face dropping. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Zia."

Zia walked away from him, shivering despite the warm summer's day. It had taken a lot of courage for her to share the dream; she was strong, and proud, and not afraid to bear her burdens alone. But the look on Carter's face had broken her, making her give in. She had shared her story. She just hoped that, in the end, Carter would forgive her.

/*\

Carter, heartbroken, wandered around the dorms until he came upon Jaz's room. He had heard that, after Walt's heartbreak with Sadie, Jaz had been a good therapist. Maybe she could help him.

He knocked on the door and paused. Jaz opened the door, her room punctuated by little bursts of sunshine, streaming through her open window. "Oh, hi, Carter. Is there something I can do for you?" She asked, confused.

"If possible, I would like… ah… therapy."

Jaz furrowed her eyebrows but admitted him into her room, shutting the door. "So, what troubles you?"

"Zia just broke up with me." Carter let it out, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"I thought you two weren't ever a couple." Jaz replied slowly.

"Zia never officially announced it, but… well…" Carter hung his head in his hands. "I'm just so depressed."

Jaz smiled. "Maybe you need a little music." She opened up a guitar case that Carter had never known she'd had and strummed it, making sure it was in tune.

She played a few chords; then she began to sing. It was a song he didn't know, but he enjoyed it all the same. "I wish I were on yonder hill; 'tis there I'd sit and cry my fill. And every tear would turn a mill…" It was beautiful; bright, but tinged with sadness. And Jaz's voice was so pure and clear that it lifted Carter right out of his funk. "I wish I sat on my true love's knee; many a fond a story he told to me. He told me things that there shall be…" Then she sang a chorus, in some language he didn't know.

When she was done, Carter started clapping. Jaz blushed, unused to the attention. "Oh, thank you."

Carter smiled, happier than he had ever thought he could be. "No, thank you." On an impulse, without any thought, he leaned in and kissed her.

Jaz, startled, jumped away. "Carter, what the hell are you doing?"

"I… Jaz, I love you." Carter confessed. Something had come over him, and he realized it. "I need to know that you love me too."

Jaz smiled slowly. Her face lit up brightly, and she said, "I do, Carter."

They walked out of her dorm hand in hand, whistling. Sadie never knew what had gone on in there.


End file.
